Last week, the Ag Insider reported AgSec Vilsack’s comments on working with a nonprofit group on a potential mentoring project for beginning farmers. Vilsack called the idea “Food Corps” and said it might be modeled on the Peace Corps, which provides first-hand expertise. USDA had no details at that moment but has provided a statement:
“Secretary Vilsack is focused on increasing the number of people in agriculture with a particular focus on young and beginning farmers. Working across the USDA, we are identifying ideas that attract, train and retain the next generation of America’s farmers and ranchers.
“As you know, USDA has lots of resources that may be of use to a beginning farmer, and those resources are dispersed across USDA’s many agencies—we’re working to get a handle on that and create an easier point of entry for someone who is just getting started. With healthier school meals for all children and more funding for programs like Farm to School, the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act is part of the solution. With funding for new crop insurance products, farmers markets, incentives for purchasing healthy foods directly from a farmer, not to mention loans and loan guarantees for folks trying to get into agriculture, the Farm Bill is part of the solution. We know we have to be even more creative than this. The private and non-profit sector can be valuable partners.
“A service based effort could be one idea of many to consider . USDA proudly partners with Food Corps which places young adults in elementary and middle schools across the country in partnership with local organizations to teach kids about what healthy food is and where it comes from; to build and tend school gardens, and to connect local farmers with new market such as school cafeterias. And they do it with a national service twist, as all of the young adults are AmeriCorps national service members. We are in the discussion state to see what, if anything, this model can offer to build the next generation of America’s farmers and ranchers. However in regards to your piece this morning, We haven’t made any commitments yet to launch such a program at this time.”